~ Doug Siska

Boy, looks as though I have been up staged by my wife Sue. <smile>

Well my mentor is pretty straight forward. It was my aunt and uncle, Lorraine & Samuel Trauger. Some of you may have known them, Doylestown, Pennsylvania area. They started collecting in the mid fifties. They had a very large collection that I had the privilege to sell, in the late 1990s through the early 2000s, of well over 1,000 pieces. Through eBay and three public auctions we managed to get it done.

I was very young when our families would visit. It was in the day that siblings would still visit their parents or brothers and sisters once a week, usually on a Friday or Saturday night. The visitors would supply the cake or pie and the visited would provide the coffee. If you remember those days you are showing you age..<smile>

My Aunt and Uncle had a small toy box that would be placed right in the middle of their living room floor. This was to provide me with entertainment while the grown ups would talk about their lives and what was going on with them in general.

I would play with my trucks and toy building blocks and not pay too much attention to their work related stories but when my Aunt would start to tell their stories about an auction they attended, or what they found at a flea market, my ears would perk up and listen. I'm sure they had no idea that their conversation was that much exciting to a little boy, but it certainly was. My thoughts were compared to a treasure hunter looking for gold or some sort of object that was worth a lot of money.

Fortunately my Aunt and Uncle thought a lot about me. They would bring out their treasure from a cabinet or maybe it was still in a back room but would always let me hold it and look at it closely. I thought, "Wow, this is neat stuff!" At the time my Dad was a big bottle digger. He had thousands of bottles lined up on shelves in our basement. I thought to myself, "Man, this glass is a whole lot prettier then those Aqua colored bottles."

Over the years my parents and my Aunt and Uncle would team up and go to garage sales and flea markets together with me tagging along. I thought the world of it. This was so cool. My Uncle would set up at local flea markets and when Shupps Grove opened in I believe 1964 he started to sell there. In the spring of 1965 on a Friday night visit to their home he asked my parents if it would be ok to take me along to help him out. I was jumping up and down yelling "please, please, please" to my Mom and Dad. When they said "Yes" I went crazy until they said, Now you're going to have to wake up at 4:00 in the morning cause Uncle Sam is picking you up at 4:30." My excitement sort of dwindled. Then again, here was my chance to really be part of the hunt and sales.

That trip started the further years of helping him out at flea markets and setting up his wares to sell. I gathered quite a collection of carnival back then. At the ripe old age of twelve I had my first auction with the help of my Aunt and Uncle along with the backing of my parents. We chose the Sanford Alderfer auction company of Hatfield, PA. I had 150 pieces at the time, nothing real notable. A few Peacock plates and bowls... A purple Many Fruits punch set which, by the way, I cannot walk by one without remembering that first one. I'll never forget the excitement when we received the check in the mail from the auction company. Of course, we sort of knew just about what it was going to be since we attended the auction but to physically have it in your hands...

I went on until my teens when my parents moved here in the wonderful Pocono Mountains where I still live today, only a stone's throw from their home. I personally have been collecting ever since. I have had three other large auctions since that momentous auction at the age of twelve. I've sold well over 12,000 pieces on eBay since 1998. I wouldn't even be able think how many pieces of this lovely glass passed through my hands. I have seen this hobby grow from it being sold in peach baskets by the dozens! Yes, truthfully I've seen them sell it that way.

Carnival glass wasn't very popular in antique shops or resale places. I can remember my Uncle having to ask a proprietor if he had any carnival glass. A lot of responses were "Oh, that junk". They would go in the back and bring it out almost in a shameful fashion. It didn't get really popular until in 1965 when it was in a Women's Day magazine. It got its start. There was a rather large article on collecting it. I believe this is when Imperial got the idea of starting to reissue some of their glass. It became a trend for a long time. Moving up in the ranks with some other antiques and then in the 80's and 90's it exploded. The prices soared and everyone wanted carnival.

If you were to tell my Uncle or Ole' Joe Olson, Lamar Sharp or the other pioneers of this hobby that a piece of carnival would bring $100,000 they would of laughed you out of town. I have seen the trends, its ups and downs, the rise and fall of popular patterns, the days when water sets ruled the ring, and punch sets rise and fall, then to rise again.

Back then color really didn't seem to matter as much as today. All we knew it was iridized glass and looked pretty. Now a days, color is king, which it should be, but if you love this glass there is always a spot in your heart for even the ugly piece now and then.

In the early 80's I met Tom Burns, along with Ole' Bill and Billy Jr. At the time I couldn't believe they could get 400 or 500 pieces together for a auction. It was an amazing feat I thought. Now, it's a common practice. Now a days, this is where I get the majority of our glass. Still the hunt is the most exciting. When you walk into that shop or mall, the expectations are second to none. Like Wide World of Sports "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat."

My son and daughter grew up with it and now my new wife, whom I have been with for over ten years now, still thinks I'm crazy but she has caught the proverbial bug and is as crazy as I am about it. It' has been my passion for over 50 years now. I hope to buy, sell and collect for many more years. My goal now is to keep this hobby going. I know over the last few years I have been involved with starting up a few new collections. It's gratifying to see younger people get involved. Hopefully our hobby will continue into the future. The friendships we acquirer through this glass is priceless. Never in my wildest dreams as a young boy did I think I would have so many friendships made and the enjoyment this glass has been giving me.

I will end this story by saying.... God Bless, Good Luck, and hope to see some of you at a upcoming event.

~ Doug Siska